It's Christmas!

Christmas has started in our home a week before the month of December.  After the Halloween, I spent two weekends cleaning and decorating the house with old and hand-me-down Christmas items from my mother-in-law. 

Since our Christmas tree had the same decors for 5 years already, I bought some new cherries and twigs to add a little glamour plus some personal touch with diecuts which I converted into Christmas tree decors.

Sharing them with you...

So from our family to yours... 

Merry Christmas!!!

Everyday Days

The Pinoyscrapbookers Facebook mods organized a grab-a-swap activity sometime in July.  Participants must create a mini album with the following requirements:

1.  at least 6x6 inches in size

2.  any shape is welcome

3.  outside cover

     > front - must be decorated and bear the title EVERYDAY DAYS

     > back - must contain the name of the creator and date created

4.  inside

     > at least 4 pages

     > must contain a minimum of 2 tags and 2 pockets

     > add photo mats or at least space for the photos

     > add journalling spots

Sharing with you my very own 6x6 EVERYDAY DAYS mini album:

Front Cover

First Spread

Second Spread

Third Spread

Fourth Spread

Fifth Spread

There's a little envelope between the pages for some special notes.

Sixth Spread

Back Cover

 

Now here's the exciting part --- the revelation!!!

At reveal time, all albums were posted in the private FB page.  The first to comment laying claim to the album gets first choice to the mini album.

Jona Panesa claimed the ownership to the album I made.  Instead of shipping the album, we met personally to get to know each other.  Chit chat while having a yummy dinner ended our day.

Hoping for another swap activity and meet-ups soon.

Thanks for dropping by!

Love the EARTH!

Hello!!!  I'm back!!!

I was able to create a poster before the Halloween.  It was actually a school project of my little girl.  Thanks to her teacher!  Because of this school requirement, I was able to use my skills and materials that have been sleeping for a long time.  LOL...

The theme of the poster was "Save Mother Earth" and here's what we've got!

I promised myself to do at least one layout or any project in a month.  That means I'll be busy this weekend.  Yahoo!

Have a nice day!

Life is too short...

The last two months were the saddest and most difficult time for our family. 

My father was in critical condition the last time I made a blog post.  We said we were ready to lose the head of our family who has been ill and in and out of the hospital for two years because of Heart Disease and Kidney Failure, both of which are Diabetes Mellitus complications.  Yet, his demise broke our hearts, most especially my mother's.

The following days have been so heavy.  We were still mourning on my father's death when our nanny who took care of my family (my daughter in particular) for six and a half years got ill and was diagnosed with Pulmonary Tuberculosis.  We had no choice but to give in to her request to send her home despite the treatment and support we offerred.  Since her disease was communicable and we were exposed, all our household members had to undergo extensive medical examination to check if we were infected. 

I was scared... 

I prayed a lot and God answered my plea because the results of the tests were all negative.

However, while we were celebrating about the good news, we received a call that our dearest nanny has given up her life to our Creator.  How could that be?  Her illness was treatable and she was quite healthy and strong when she left.  We sent financial support but it seemed that she was not properly taken care of by her own family.  Poor nanny... 

Were there any shortcomings?  Who do I blame?

***Sigh***

Despite the sadness, the prayers and support we received from the people around us helped ease the pain.  And I feel so blessed to be surrounded by great people, whether friends or not.  If you're one of them, many many thanks for being with us during our time of bereavement.

Life is too short indeed.  So I must spend it on the things and thoughts that will make me happy.  Now at this point, I can say I'm ready to touch my scrapbook stuff again --- my most favorite things that I've taken for granted for such a long time.  Maybe doing art will lessen the emptiness that I feel.  Bright colors will again fly around me.

Thanks for reading!  May God bless you all...

Mountain of Prima Products from Ingvild Bolme

Ingvild Bolme is celebrating a new blog design and wishes to give away a "mountain" of Prima products!

What to do?

1. Post the picture above in your blog.  Where, how, how large and so on is up to you!
2. Link back to her blog - www.ingvildbolme.com
3. Write some words about this giveaway.  All she asks for is that you mention in your text that the giveaway is related to the celebration of the new blog design.
4. Post a comment with a link (directly to where your post is!)
This is open to all even in internationals like me!  The giveaway ends 31st of August 2012, 12.00 p.m. GMT-time and the lucky winner will be picked and announced within September 5th.

So what are you waiting for?  Grab this chance and keep your fingers crossed!!!

Have a great week!

My First ATCs - It's more fun in the Philippines!

There was an ATC swap initiated by the Pinoyscrapbookers mods in June.  I was so excited and nervous because it was my first time to join in a swap activity and create an ATC.

The required size of the card was 2.5" x 3.5" and the theme was "It's more fun in the Philippines!".  No limit to creativity.  One just made sure that there's an element that fits the theme.

So here are my ATCs...

The fishes and women are from keychains.  While the slippers are cellphone chains.  Other materials are beads, buttons, stamps and flowers. 
Well, I enjoyed preparing my cards and it seems that my groupmates liked them.

Have a great week ahead!

New Layouts!

The southwest monsoon created heavy floods in Metro Manila.  I've been staying at home since Tuesday because the roads going to my office were not passable.  Whew!  Thank God our house was not affected and we were safe during the downpour.

To make myself busy and productive during the rainfall, I created so many diecuts and two mini albums.  But I haven't decorated them yet 'coz I'm saving them for my future projects.  Will share them with you once done.  And since I had a lot of spare time, I was also able to take photos of my new layouts which were done during our class with the Philippines' best, Iris Babao-Uy. 

These are the four layouts I made:

Layout 1:   Every Child Needs a Friend

I love creating the swirls and old handwriting as the background in this first layout.  We used the Derwent Inktense Blocks and I enjoyed using it.  Cool!

Layout 2:  Celebrate Today

In the second layout, we did misting and application of Texture Paint.

Layout 3:  My Little Prep

Layout 4:  3 Sis

In the third and fourth layouts, we used Distress Inks and Distress Stains.  I couldn't remember anymore which of the two was colored with the ink and which one was made with the stain.  Their effects are almost similar.  LOL!

Attending scrapbook classes have so many pros.  First, you don't need to think of any design on a layout.  Second, you will learn new techniques from others.  And lastly, you will earn lots of friends with the same passion as yours.  The only problem is that one must save enough for the materials and mediums if you want to own one.

Well, the rain has stopped and the sun made his appearance already.  Tomorrow will be another busy day and I thank the Lord once again for the guidance during our darkest nights.

Looking forward to a brighter tomorrow!  It's weekend anyway, a time to have fun and bond with the family. 

Thanks for the visit!